Drags is a photo series in book for by photographer Gregory Kramer documenting the drag queens and kings of New York City, through glamorous black-and-white photographs. It’s presented as fashion portraiture and features the legendary and up-and-coming legends. The photos were inspired by legendary Vogue photographer, Irving Penn, and the book also includes five stories written by Charles Busch, Sasha Velour, Linda Simpson,Goldie Peacock and the late Sweetie pays homage to the queens who’ve come before.

“Drag is like an act of magic, a way of casting spells. If a spell is meant to change the living world through the constitutive powers of language, then I think drag is meant to change it through fashion, gesture, and effect. And even if it’s only for a moment, in the closed safety of a nightclub (or photo studio!), drag plants the seed for alternative gender and alternative beauty.” –Sasha Velour, season nine winner, RuPaul’s Drag Race

You can get Drags at your local bookstore or on Amazon here.

Peppermint

Crimson Kitty

Flloyd

Kim Ono

Marti Gould Cummings

Murray Hill

Scarlet Envy

Wang Newton

Sugga Pie Koko

(Photos, Gregory Kramer; via CNN)